Shaken by the tensions between the League and CoordinatorLeonard Kurita in the wake of the Reunification War, First Lord Nicholas Cameron directed the SLDF's new Commanding General Nicholas Kinnol to develop contingency plans for the invasion and occupation of the member states as a precaution, as well expanding the SLDF while its wartime logistical backbone remained intact. As the SLDF kept the many recruiting stations raised during the war open to fuel this expansion, the increasingly fearful Council Lords immediately objected to continued recruitment within their borders, preferring that as before the Reunification War that they provided the SLDF with the bulk of its troops as a means of controlling its expansion and ensuring a degree of loyalty to them ahead of the League. [1][2]

Both the First Lord and the Commanding General disagreed however, with First Lord Nicholas issuing Executive Order 34 in 2606 to reaffirm the SLDF's right to recruit men and women from any member state without interference from its government and ensure the SLDF could oversee its own training programs to ensure loyalty to the Star League as a whole. In turn each recruiting office gained all the rights of a diplomatic mission: once someone walked through its doors, that person was governed solely by the laws of the Star League, not the member state. While this would only add to the mystique surrounding the general public's view of the SLDF, many member states were angered at loss of control over their people, with a number of criminals and political dissidents seeking to escape their laws by requesting to join the SLDF. The situation reached crisis point in 2631 when the Coordinator of the Draconis Combine and Chancellor of the Capellan Confederation demanded something be done to crack down on criminals escaping justice at their hands. [1][2][3][4]

Recognizing the situation could become dangerous, the First Lord seemingly acceded to their demands and issued Executive Order 35, amending the previous order to allow the member states to petition the Star League government to locate and punish SLDF personnel who were accused of crimes. Both the Coordinator and Chancellor however quickly learned they had been largely side-stepped, as while the SLDF did respond to the criminal accusations they raised, the SLDF tried the accused under Star League law. Though the SLDF Judge Advocate General's command vigorously prosecuted crimes such as murder or theft, they practically ignored political crimes such as "public-speaking" or "failure to obey a moral superior". Though the Combine and Confederation would continue to resent the order, attempting many times to prevent certain individuals from either entering and leaving the SLDF recruitment stations, the amended Executive Order 34 would stand until the collapse of the Star League.[2][3][4]